Murray2

Member
Note to Dell, Guy in our neighborhood has a MF 35 , Gas engine, has to continually change the condenser every few hours. What could be the problem? I probably have not given enough information, so this is a starting area. Cheers, Murray
 
" has to continually change the condenser every few hours"

Considering that the failure rate on a condenser is about 1 out of 100, (if that much)I think I'd just wait & see how long it takes him to actually test one of those "bad" condensers.

My bet is that he could put any one of those "bad" condensers back in the tractor & it will work fine for a few hours until the lead or connection gets hot or shorts.

It's highly unlikely that he has a batch of bad condensers. But replacing them temporarily "fixes" the problem.
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Is he using the right one that is supposed to with the coil? Maybe the current going thru the system is too much? More analysis is needed.
 
Murry..........in 60-yrs of futzin' with ignition systems, I have NEVER found a BAD condenser. And as an Electronics Engr, I have the testing equipment to check'em out. Some of the early condensers were NOT too reliable 'cuz of the insulation inside the cap. Modern condensers have better insulation. I know, you kenn never buy a set of points without the condenser being included in the package. Heres the deal, everytime the points OPEN, you gitta electrical shock and the condenser does just that condenses the shock so you don't BURN yer points. Burned points cause weak sparkies. Me? When I install a set of points, I clamp the corner of $1-bill (cheap) between the points and pull. Polishes the INVISIBLE CORROSION from between the points and they last longer. .......HTH, Dell, yer self-appointed sparkie-meister
 
Maybe he thinks its the condenser ,? coil heating up and by the time he changes the
condenser the coil has cooled off.
 
In the 50+ years I've been fooling w/ old cars & tractors, I've had exactly two confirmed condenser failures. I may have had more and solved it w/ replacing the points AND condenser at the same time. But. 3-4 years ago, my 51 sidemount quit on me. After checking spark & finding a weak one, and knowing the battery was fully charged and the side coil being bullet proof, I replaced the condenser. Fixed it. Condenser checked open.

Then, not 6 months later, I got a bad out of the box condenser for the 29 Ford. Car ran fine w/ one of the many 8N condensers I had around here.

The moral of this story: don't change the condenser every time you change points.
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That's certainly more likely than a series of bad condensers. But, IIRC, it's a round coil so they are usually pretty strong.

Easy enough to check though.
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